TravelStream™ news feed for member justinerenee on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/justinerenee en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Fri, 16 May 2008 17:02:35 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/justinerenee/1/1207169100/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/justinerenee/1/1207169100/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/justinerenee/1/1207169100/tpod.html Fri, 16 May 2008 17:02:35 -0400 Granada, Spain 2008

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Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain

Today Julie's parents arrived! Mom and Brenda were supposed to arrive around noon, but their flight was delayed due to Chicago weather, so I hung out with the Johnsen's. Julie, Courtney, Erin, Andrea, and I took them to get their first napolitana, these amazing dulces! Their my favorite incase anyone reading this is taking notes J. Afterwards, we all watched a Procesión. For dinner I went with the Johnsen's to a nice restaurant called Castillana. I ordered duck and drank sangria! Sangria is another one of my favorites! (again for the note takers) We then took the padres to Paddy's, no one was there, but it was fun talking. Us girls drank White Russians, and of course Brad drank a beer. My drink was really strong so I didn't enjoy it as much. I then parted from them in search of my mom and Brenda's hotel. Of course it started raining on me, you know Granada, or should I say España, is in a big draught, but the night I'm out looking for a hotel with no umbrella it rains. I brought them candy from the best candy store in the world for a little Easter present. The store didn't have any chocolate covered bananas, that was depressing, but I got them some chocolate covered peanuts, malt ball, carmel, and octopus gummies. It was so good to see them!! We talked a bit and I ended up just sleeping there because their room had two full beds and a twin bed.

Sunday, March 23 EASTER
Happy Easter! We went to Easter mass in the Cathedral at 1PM with the Johnsen's and some of my friends. Mass began with a huge Procesión that led into the Cathedral with hundreds of people following. It was so neat! The service was kind of odd because I didn't always know what they were saying, but I knew exactly what I had to do and when. Of course Brenda had me laughing about one thing or another throughout it. We ate lunch with Julie and the padres at a little café in the fountain plaza. We saw three guys from the Procesión band so Julie and I took a foto with them. That night we saw the real Easter Procesión where everyone wears white symbolizing that Christ has risen. I am really happy Mom and Brenda got to see one. I know their a bit weird, but it's a huge part of the Spanish culture. We called Dad and Jess and Dad said Jess still had not found her Easter basket. I laughed and had a little missing America moment. I love it how Dad still hides our Easter baskets. Believe me, it gets harder to find them every year. I swear he will never run out of ideas. My little Easter outfit was a pink shirt, my new black skirt, leggings, and my boots. I felt very European.

I slept at the hotel last night since it is right by my school. After class I met Mom and Brenda at the hotel. They told me we had to buy flowers for Maria and I got mad because we were going to be late for lunch, but it turned out they went to a flower stand in one of the plazas, but had no idea what the lady was saying or how much they cost so they left. Haha I laughed really hard. It turns out the flowers were exactly ten euros, I laughed again. I told Mom she should have just given the lady money and just kept giving her money until she signaled that it was enough. Maria made delicious paella for almuerzo for us and Julie and her parents! Lunch went very smoothly considering all the padres only speak English and Maria only speaks Spanish. Lucilla was there and stole the attention for the majority of it which helped. Brenda said my apartment was really big, and she's been here before so she knows. I found it interesting because my friends that have been over have made comments about how big it is compared to theirs. I guess I got lucky! I took Mom and Brenda to see my school, we ate ice cream, and walked around town. This evening we walked up to the Albayzin, bought Greta a neat pair of earrings, and met the Johnsen's at El Agua for dinner. It was my first fondo experience! For an appetizer we at some kind of tomato and motzerella dish, and then for dinner Mom, Brenda, and I shared a pot of cheese and bread. For desert we all shared this chocolate with all different fruits fondo. I was so full, but it was delicious!

Today, Tuesday, Mom and Brenda left for Sevilla so I became the fourth Johnsen again. We took Julie's parents out for tapas at La Bella y La Bestia (Beauty and the Beast). A lot of our friends came too, I would say there was a good fifteen of us there! After tapas and parting from everybody Julie and I took her padres to Café Fútbol and we all ate churros con chocolate! Julie ordered an order of churros for everyone and of course we all had our own chocolate so, again, I was stuffed!

This morning Julie came to grammar with me at 8:30AM because she has her midterm tomorrow and wanted to make sure she understood it all, what a brownnoser haha I lover her. Tonight I went to the Arabic Baths with Julie and the padres, or "Banos Arabes" it was so relaxing! There are seven different little hot tubs, all different shapes and sizes, with different temperatures, and a big cold one in the middle. Julie and I went first for our fifteen min massage. I had a Spaniard guy and Julie had a larger Spanish lady, I thought it was funny. He asked me if I wanted my legs or back messaged and I could think of was my legs are way too hairy to have anybody touching them haha so I said my back. He let me choose the scent so I picked lavender. It was so tickalish at first, of course. I don't think I'll ever grow out of it. I heard the guy chuckle a few times because I was squirmy. He totally knew. After a few minutes I got better. After my message I showered off a little and went back into the pools with Julie until her parents were done. They put out tea and little candies, so we enjoyed those until our time was up. The whole thing lasted about 2 hours. Afterwards Julie's mom was hungry so we went to Kabob King. She's been here a few days and is already hooked. We ended up seeing all the Frenches at Paddy's! We said hi and talked for awhile. I'm really going to miss them. We decided to eat in the huka bar part of Kabob King. Julie and I split a pollo y queso kabob (they're huge) and we drank tea. Then we stopped in Hannighan's and said happy birthday to the bartender Adam, he was plastered.

This morning Julie and I got woken up by rocks hitting out window and Tibu yelling "hermanas!" haha We looked out the window and Tibu, Antonio, and Tony had a mattress and told us to jump. They wanted us to go to Café Futbol with them before they went home for the "night." This is 5AM. haha Then at 7AM Tibu returned from Café Futbol and came into our room telling us to go eat cereal with him. haha He cracks me up. Just a few things to remember about Tibu: his damn headphones, "quieres sopa, you know sopa, soup," he never eats the food Maria makes and therefore Julie and I have to eat our portion plus his because you can't waste anything over here, and then he goes and eats two burgers at Burger King. Mom and Brenda came back from Sevilla and I took them to Paddy's for the Frenche Farwell party. It was a lot of fun, and really sad. Everyone was there! Tibu said to me "I never hit on you because you are mi hermana." I busted out laughing.

This morning Mom, Brenda, and I left for Mallorca! I'm really excited to see Monica again.

Quick summary of Mallorca: rented a care and drove to a lot of little towns, had a blast just relaxing, saw a cave, realized that my personality is more German than I knew...

Mom, Brenda, and I spent Monday and Tuesday in Madrid. Did a little sight seeing, ate some tapas, went shopping, the city didn't impress me, it's just a city. Tuesday I left to come back to Granada and Mom and Brenda left for the States. I am getting excited to go home now after seeing Jess and now them. I don't want to go home for good. I wish I could go just for a long weekend to see everyone, and then come back.

Today Julie and I went to Café Futbol for lunch. We split a grilled cheese sandwich and a fruit and ice cream crape for dessert. It was delicious! While we were there Andrea and her novio walked up and ended up eating with us. I'm so happy for her that Matt came to visit; she was so excited about it. Afterwards, I worked out and then went back to the CLM to work on the lit project. That didn't really happen.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/justinerenee/1/1207687740/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/justinerenee/1/1207687740/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/justinerenee/1/1207687740/tpod.html Fri, 16 May 2008 16:51:38 -0400 Granada, Spain 2008

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Munich, Bavaria, Germany

Today we arrived in Munich! We took the bus from Granada to Madrid, and then flew out of Madrid, making our travel about a twelve hour ordeal. It was long, but definitely worth it! We are staying at the Euro Youth Hotel, but it's a hostel. I know, kind of confusing. I am here with Julie, Carlee, Courtney, Brittany, and Natalie. As for the Munich train station, the most American place I've seen so far in Europe. We all loved it. Anyways today we walked around the city, found Marian Plats and did a little shopping. Our favorite store was a discount one that had everything you could possibly need. A few of us bought flip flops, bags, and me a new black bra because mine isn't quite up to par anymore. It was pretty funny. Germany reminded me so much of the States; I finally understand why Oma and Opa picked awesome Illinois to settle in. I know Munich is a city, and Woodstock is a small town, but just the landscape and the ways things look is so similar. Oh, and as for me being tall, not true in Germany! You were right mom! Tonight we were going to go on a bar crawl, but Carlee has been sick and complained so plans changed and we ate some delicious pizza and went to the Hofbräuhaus House. We ate the pizza outside and some Italian guy came up to us and said "Come on, I'm from Italy, you have to give me a piece of pizza." Haha Seriously, I have more funny quotes from random people, it's crazy. Oh what a time that was! It turns out they sell these HUGE mugs of delicious beer for 6.50 euros. We all chatted, drank one, and decided it was time for round two, not sure if that was a great idea. Well, we ended up playing the game "never have I ever" and Brittany's was "never have I ever been so drunk I peed." The guy at the next table turned around and just busted out laughing at us. Of course we all laughed because we got caught, but the best part is Brittany leans over to us and says "well I can't drink now, he'll know!" It was hilarious! Then Julie got attacked by a group of Italian kids. Brittany got the best photo of her face, priceless. We ended up closing down the Hofbräuhaus House and I had this amazing idea to steal the HUGE mug; thanks to mi padre we kind of have this tradition. Well, I was oh so secretive and held it in my hands with my jacket, north face, and Julie's jacket on top. Well, as I casually walked past a very large, scary man who happened to be one of the security guards when I heard "Ms. I need to check your jackets." He then continued to take out of my hands my jacket, my north face, and Julie's jacket and finally displaying this HUGE mug that is impossible to hide. He then told me I was stealing and to put my hands on the wall and that I was going to jail. He first told me one night, then asked my nationally, and then said three nights because I'm an American. I followed his instruction and he began talking in German in his little radio. At the time I really thought he was calling the police, but he was probably telling the other security guards to come check this out that he had an American girl up on the wall. Julie saw me from afar and came running. She began talking to the guy telling him "we'll buy the mug, we'll buy three, hell we'll even by four" and then I leaned over her shoulder with a 50 euro bill and told him "you can keep the change." All I could think about was I'm going to have to find Monica's phone number and explain all this to her, and at least I would have a German citizen backing me up. I kept eyeing the door ready to run because I did have flats on, but the other security guard stood right in between the doors starring at me. Well this went on for a good 20 minutes. Finally one of the managers began laughing and told me to just go. I looked at him and figured it out that it was all a joke. Not sure though, I made him walk me out to make sure I did not really get arrested. As I left all of the managers and security guards stood at the door laughing hysterically. As I left I told them this was not funny, but began laughing as well. All I have to say is Julie really did stick by my side through it all, when the other girls were no where to be found. Even though it turned out to be a joke she was in front of the security guard the whole time defending me. It really meant a lot to me. Back to the story. Since we were by ourselves we decided to check out a few bars before going back to the hostel. We stopped in a sports bar, used the bathroom, and ended up sitting on this counter thing for who knows how long having a little heart to heart. Nice bonding time. After stopping at a few more bars we headed back to the hostel and crashed.

Today, Saturday, we went to Dachau Concentration Camp. We went with a tour guide who is definitely the most World War II informed person I have ever met. She was amazing! We spent five hours there. I walked thru the entrance to the camp passing through a gate with the words "Arbeit macht frei" meaning "work will set you free." Passing thru this gate meant giving up three things: possessions, dignity, and all rights as a human being. I saw the crematorium and gas chambers, which were separate from the camp. The shuntroom was where prisoners were registered and given a number. The prison bunker was where 'special prisoners' were kept, such as well-known political and religious leaders. Regular prisoners were also brought there to be tortured and receive other types of 'special treatment.' The sleeping grounds were called barracks. Seeing it all really hit hard. Once we got back into Munich we ate brots, and I studied for my art history midterm while everyone else napped. For dinner we went out to a delicious German dinner! Natalie, Julie, and I ordered the same meal of pork with this really good mushroom sauce, and spatzle on the side. Afterwards we hung out at the hostel, played some cards, and then went to bed.

For our last day in Germany we went on a History of Munich free walking tour. It began raining so Julie, Natalie, and Britt bought red, one euro ponchos. Britt wore hers all day, it was pretty funny. For lunch we went to Subway! It was nice to have an actual sandwich with stuff on it, not just bread, butter, and meat. Our tour went past the Hofbräuhaus House and we all started laughing. After the tour we went back, ate some apple straddle, and then bought the big mugs to remember our little incident. I bought another glass for Dad. I don't expect him to really use it; it's more for looks I guess. Sorry dad if you just read this, you know what one of your souvenirs are! Sorry if it's missing when I leave for school. On our way out we took a picture with the security guards from the previous night. We were all laughing hysterically. I think, overall, I've laughed more in the past three days than ever before!


]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/justinerenee/1/1205959320/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/justinerenee/1/1205959320/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/justinerenee/1/1205959320/tpod.html Fri, 16 May 2008 16:45:15 -0400 Granada, Spain 2008

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Granada, Spain

Last night I arrived back in Granada. Maria went somewhere too and didn't get home until dinnertime on Sunday. Tibu was still here, but it was nice to just do my own thing. Since the gym was closed I ran outside. First I went to the park by mi casa that I normally run in, but it was packed with people and kids because of the nice weather, so I left. I began going around the backside of the mall and found an actual running trail. All of a sudden I saw a cloud of dust ahead of me and animals running. I couldn't tell if they were running towards or away from me, but all I thought was "the running of the bulls isn't in March, is it?!" It turns out they were sheep, and were running away from me towards the field. I just got done running under a bridge, and there was a group of guys playing soccer in the dirt on one side of me and a creek on the other. It was so weird. If you looked towards town there was the mall not too far away, but if you looked out into the country there was nothing. It was as if a line had been drawn separating the two. The sun was setting and I began feeling unsafe there by myself so I headed back. I want to go back there during the day sometime and take a few photos.

Today I slowly got up and made my way to the gym. I was there for awhile only because I literally had nothing to do. I spent my spring break with Jess, Stef, and Deanne and got back a few days earlier than everyone else. Most people should be back by Wednesday night, hopefully. Anyways, before dinner I walked around town. I did a little window shopping, tried on a few things, but did not find anything spectacular. I guess it is a good thing, I saved some money. On my way to Corte Ingles to buy Ella a birthday card I saw a ton of people in the plaza. I remembered it was Semana Santa and crossed the road to see what was going on. It turned out to be a Procesión! A Procesión is similar to a parade. There are two pasos in each parade, bands that follow them, women in matching black outfits, and many nazarenos. It was so neat to see! An hour or so later on my walk home I was going through the allies and saw another group of people standing in front of a small church. Maria later told me that they have them everyday for the whole week in different areas of the city. Yesterday two girls from France arrived, but they are only here until tomorrow. Tibu is also out of town now so I had to eat dinner by myself with them. We had a spinach tortilla though! It turned out they were only fifteen and when I told them I was twenty they looked at me like I was a ghost or something. I am a bit mad at Julie and Tibu for leaving me alone here.

Today I slowly got up, again. I do not like this not having a roommate thing. Anyways, I ate some fish for lunch. It was fried, go figure, and I had to slide it off of these little bones. I've ate it before, but I always get the bones in my mouth and it grosses me out; therefore, I only ate a few. Maria told me there was a Procesión close to our house at 4PM, so of course I went! This one had different pasos than last night. I am not sure how many different ones there are. It was hot outside today! I went to the gym again. I am thinking Julie should go on vacations more often without me because I go to the gym out of boredom. Actually, all my friends are still on their Spring Break and that's why I'm so bored. I spent the night catching up on my travelpod.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/justinerenee/1/1205588700/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/justinerenee/1/1205588700/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/justinerenee/1/1205588700/tpod.html Wed, 30 Apr 2008 09:49:51 -0400 Granada, Spain 2008

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Granada, Andalusia, Spain

Jess, Stef, and Deanne came!
Coming Soon!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/justinerenee/1/1204552980/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/justinerenee/1/1204552980/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/justinerenee/1/1204552980/tpod.html Wed, 30 Apr 2008 09:45:26 -0400 Granada, Spain 2008

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Marbella, Spain

Today we arrived in Marbella, Spain! I am here with Julie, Brittney, Tibu, Tony, Jac, Jeremie, Tibu, Antoine, Charles, and two French girls. All seven of the boys are from France; one of the Tibu's is mi hermano. Our hotel is amazing! Besides it only costing 25 euros a night (it was suppose to be a lot more but Jac had an in), two of the rooms have mini kitchens, it is a five minute walk to the beach, and there is a pool on the roof with a view of the beach and the mountains! The mountains are so close, it's gorgeous! It was a bit chilly, but we went to the beach anyway. The boys played fútbol y fútbol americano, and us girls hung out and joined in every once in awhile. All of the locals walking by looked at us like we were crazy because we were in our bathing suits and they were wearing jackets. People stopped occasionally to watch us and smiled. For dinner us girls took care of the food, while the boys took care of the drinks. We made spaghetti! Well, Julie, Brittney, and I made spaghetti; the two French girls didn't do anything. The other Tibu really likes to cook and kept coming into the kitchen. This mini kitchen barely held the three of us comfortably. We kept kicking him out and then he would stick his head through the little "bar opening" in the wall with drinks for us. It was pretty funny. After we ate it was fiesta time! The French boys were so funny! We tried teaching them the game circle of death. For English being their second language, they did pretty well! They had a little difficulty with the rhyming part, but loved the story time part of the game. Somewhere along the line someone told Julie we were going swimming and she dragged me to our room and forced me to put on my bathing suit. We did go down to the beach, and Julie did take a little swim, and then she and Tibu raced down the beach. The rest of us hung out on this rock pier. On our way back to the hotel Julie and I were walking ahead and a few guys stopped and began talking to us. All of a sudden Tibu (our hermano) walked up and began talking to them and then the other six approached. It was neat how the boys were watching out for us. I felt really safe with them the whole trip. When we finally made it back to the hotel we were all really tired and I guess I preached to Julie how I was not going to wash my face and she couldn't make me. I found this odd because I am normally very strict about washing my face before I go to bed, especially after I've had a few drinks.

We spent today at the same beach. Julie, Brittney, and I walked along the beach and looked for shells. We found some pretty neat ones. We sunbathed, played ball with the boys, and went swimming. For dinner we all did our own thing, so Julie and I made chicken and rice. It was very delicious. The sun took it out of us and we all crashed at a decent hour.

Today we found a new beach. There are a ton of beaches here, but they are all separated into different rock coves. Julie, Brittney, and I climbed on the rocks and found urchants and tiny crabs. I took a little nap on the beach. Tibu was really burnt from yesterday so I made all the boys lather up the sunscreen. He is such a funny kid. He wears his headphones everywhere, literally. The boys were playing fútbol and he still wore them. For the rest of the afternoon we all played fútbol y fútbol americano. The boys were amazed at how good us girls could throw the football. It is so different here from home. I couldn't help but think of my boys back home and how they drill each other with the football, perfect spiral and all. These boys have never learned how to really play so it makes sense that they aren't great at it. They are amazing at soccer though!

We spent our last day in Marbella at the pool and the beach closest to our hotel. I was sad to leave. This last minute vacation turned out to be a blast! I love the French boys and don't want to see them leave!

]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/justinerenee/1/1205070120/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/justinerenee/1/1205070120/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/justinerenee/1/1205070120/tpod.html Wed, 30 Apr 2008 09:44:30 -0400 Granada, Spain 2008

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Rome, Lazio, Italy

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Granada, Spain

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Granada, Spain

Thursday, February 14 was Sally's 22nd birthday so we all went out Wednesday night. Julie and I fell asleep after dinner and woke up 20 minutes before we were supposed to meet everyone. The meeting spot was a 15 minute walk. So, we threw our hair in a ponytail, put some jeans on, and ran out the door. We went to POE's first, a tapas bar, then brought the party to Salsa Mayor, a salsa bar, and finally to the disco Granada Diez. The bouncer let Julie, Jackie, and I in for free, honestly I'm not sure how it happened. We were talking right inside the doors by the paying booth and the bouncer came up and said something. I thought he was telling us to move out of everyone's way, but then he pulled me a little and the next thing I knew we were in the lobby. Well, I saved 10 euros! Sally got in for free because it was her birthday, but everyone else had to pay. I love having blonde hair. Oh yeah, Julie made Sally a crown that said "Princesa del Cumpleaños" or in English "Birthday Princess." Sally loved it.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!
Tonight was Karaoke Night at Hannighan's. Afterwards we went to a bar called Dolce Vita. There we got free passes, or what we thought were free passes, to the disco Camborio. Julie and I were the only troopers and actually made it to Camborio. After a little "disagreement" and "negotiating" with the bouncer about our passes, we got in for free. This disco is located on a huge hill that overlooks the Alhambra and Granada. It was gorgeous! Inside is not super big, but the walls are all windows and there is a patio outside. We heard that once it gets a little warmer out people go out to the bars or other discos and then to Camborio around 4AM to watch the sunrise. While we were there Jordan and Reid, two boys from our classes, showed up. They left a little before us, but on our walk home Julie and I found Reid climbing a wall and Jordan trying to photograph it. Then I got a nice photo of Reid arms and legs sprawled out in the middle of the ally. The rest of the walk home was interesting. It was actually really funny since Jordan and Reid were suppose to go to Cordoba the next morning, which in reality their bus was leaving in two hours. No, they never made it.

Friday was a planned Granada Diez night, meaning our first stop was Tantra Bar to get the free passes. While we were there we were talking to a group of people, one guy in particular was really fruity. I actually thought of Dad and how much he would have torn this guy apart. haha A little later we met these guys that worked at Dolce Vita, weird because we were there last night! Anyways, we went back to their bar and Julie got her first USA shot! We took a few more (for free of course) and then made our way to Granada Diez. The line was super long so of course we kind of just "joined" a group towards the front. One young Spaniard got a little mad at us and started giving us a hard time. It turned out our free passes from Tantra Bar were also "VIP" and allowed us to skip the line anyway. Once the guy saw us already inside, he got a little angry. I lost JuJu for a little bit. According to her there was another girl with a blond pony-tail there and she was tagging along dancing behind the other one, until she turned around. I found her within a few songs.

Saturday night began at the Chiputeria. At night there are workers outside all of the bars handing out coupons for drinks trying to get more people to their bar. Occasionally, they are also for tapa bars and other little food stands. One guy from a tapas bar along the way approached us, and feeling a little hungry, we went inside. It went from receiving free beers and tinto veranos, to five different kinds of potato tapas! Once we were done eating and made it to the Chiputeria I found my hermano, Tibu. Let's just say he wasn't doing too well. Afterwards we made our way to Mae West. The other day at school some kids said they were turned away from Mae West. I've never heard of them not letting people in, but tonight two of my friends went before us and got turned away! I have to admit I thought it was low of the club. Anyways, Julie, Jackie, Andrea, and I had no issues getting in. To make a long story short, we met a guy at Tantra Bar the other night who "supposedly" new people at Mae West. Therefore, us four went up to the bouncers and figured we would give it a shot. We mentioned the guy's name, chatted them up a bit, and they let us in! I honestly think they had no idea who the guy was we were talking about, but hey, I saved 10 euros again! Too bad blonde hair doesn't work this good in the states. No, I'm kidding, I'm not getting a big head from living here, but I've experienced many advantages! Tonight Courtney found her lover, the bartender, and spent the whole night ordering drinks and staring at him, but too shy to say anything. Haha Oh Court. I lost JuJu again; go figure. While waiting at our arranged "incase we get separated" meeting place, keep in mind this is the club that is made up of five different huge rooms each with their own type of music, bar, and balcony, a guy named Danny that we met a few nights back came up to me and said "my sister" was looking for me. He helped us find each other, which was very nice of him, and believed we were real sisters. Once the disco began closing we all left and Julie and I had our traditional 7AM cereal before going to sleep.

Sunday was spent sleeping and doing homework. For literature I had to read a story that was five pages long. It was actually really hard. It was written with phrases that supposedly had symbolic meanings and vocabulary words that I did not even know the English definition of. I hope the whole semester won't be like this!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/justinerenee/1/1202830260/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/justinerenee/1/1202830260/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/justinerenee/1/1202830260/tpod.html Mon, 25 Feb 2008 10:34:35 -0500 Granada, Spain 2008

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Granada, Spain

Today was the first day of classes for the real semester. My schedule is Monday and Wednesday "Nociones de gramática española" from 8:30AM to 10:00AM, (yes I know, terrible) and then "Literatura Española (S.XIX - S.XX)" from 11:30AM to 1:00PM. On Tuesday and Thursday I have "Historia del arte en España" from 11:30AM to 1:00PM and "Producción oral y escrita" from 1:00PM to 2:30PM. Today I joined Maria's gym, TNT; not because I enjoy working out, or to be social, but because I had to. Moving on. We bought our tickets for Cádiz tonight! Well, it is actually called Carnaval en Cádiz. It is the third largest carnival in the world, and lasts about a week. We are just going for the last night, Saturday night. Just type it into google, you'll find a million sights on it!

Today I took Julie to TNT and she joined too. Again, moving on. This afternoon we went shopping for our Cádiz costumes! Everyone who goes dresses up so they can find each other because there are so many people. We wanted to do something very American so we were going to be Cowboys and Indians. Then the boys found Spiderman, Zorro, and Roman Knight costumes. Anyways, I ended up being a pimp with Andrea. Tonight we stayed in to prepare for tomorrow.

The bus left at 11:00AM today for Cádiz. It is a four hour drive, but since we stopped at a bus stop for an hour it took more around five. The carnival takes place in the streets and there are little stands everywhere with food, drinks, and souvenirs. I guess you could compare it to America's Mardi Gras. It was so crazy. The bus left the next morning at 7:00AM. I passed out from the moment I sat down until we reached Granada.

Sunday was spent sleeping all day long.
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Dublin, Ireland

I'm in Dublin! We spent the day walking around town. Early into our adventure we helped an older man get his bicycle filled with oranges onto the sidewalk. We talked to him for a good 5 minutes or so and he made me completely fall in love with Ireland! He was so nice and it was good to just talk to someone without anyone seeming in a huge hurry to get somewhere. We found another outside market, but this one had no samples and was small. We were at a fruit stand and the lady there pretty much told us off because we were taking to long to buy something. Well, I guess we experienced a little America hatred there, but no worries, it got none of us down. We stopped in a supermarket and found a Heineken pony keg and bought it. We spent the beginning of the night playing drinking games with two other kids in our hostel, Chris from Colorado and Ryan from Australia. Our hotel is so nice! Our room holds about 12 people and the hostel was pretty much filled with kids just like us, wanting to see the world! Well, a funny story about our first night in Dublin is a bouncer asking me how many drinks I had and my response, "only three." Then Jackie proceeded to speak Spanish to him as if we were back in Granada. Sometime during the night Jackie and Amy made their way to a minimart and made sandwiches, Amy made two. The next morning I woke up to cheese and crackers next to me and my face washed. Let's just say I owe Julie.

Despite the night before, we made it out of the hostel by 10AM. Our first stop was the Guinness Factory. It was so neat! It ended at the Gravity Bar, the top floor surrounded by windows overlooking the city. We got a free Guinness, but my coke tasted a whole lot better thanks to the night before. Afterwards we walked around Dublin. We visited Trinity College and met a kid from Illinois. I guess he has been going to school in Ireland his whole life and his parents live back in Illinois. It would be neat to go to college in Ireland, but I felt a little bad for him because he has no idea what school is like in the States. Next we went to the Dublin Castle. We didn't get to go inside or learn much about it, but at least we got to see it. We walked around in this garden for a bit until it began raining. We did a little souvenir shopping, aka pencil shopping, for awhile. Tonight we ate an Irish three course meal and watched Irish Dancers! The appetizer was a sample of three dishes: salmon, cabbage and ham, and goat cheese on soda bread. Amy and I ordered a beef pot pie for the main meal and it came with fresh vegetables and mashed potatoes. Julie and Jackie ordered salmon. For dessert we got a mini apple and cheery tart, some type of chocolate thing, and whipped cream in the middle. We were all so full! That night we went out with these kids in our hostel from Belgium. We went to a club and danced the night away. They played a lot of songs I haven't heard in awhile like Dancing Queen, the "I would walk 500 miles" song, and that's all I can remember right now.

This morning we got up, packed, ate breakfast, and made our way to the airport. We all passed out for the first flight that took us back into London. In London you can only have one carry-on so Jackie put on almost every piece of clothing she brought so she would not have to check a bag. Seriously, so funny, it worked though! I was hoping she would get stopped going through security and have to get patted down because she would have had to take off about 8 layers. She made it through with no problems though. I'm sad our trip is over. I had so much fun and made tons of great memories. One thing that was kind of weird was when we arrived back in Granada. Part of me was happy and satisfied to be back in my little city.
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